The rapidly spreading Coronavirus COVID-19 is having a massive effect on events and film productions. Last week, we reported that production on the new Tom Cruise Mission Impossible: 7 had been delayed due to the outbreak in Italy. Companies including Netflix, Twitter, Facebook and Intel have pulled out of the annual SXSW which begins next week. Yesterday, MGM and Universal announced a 7 month delay of No Time to Die, the new James Bond film starring Daniel Craig.
Originally scheduled to hit theaters on April 2 in The U.K. and April 10 in The States, the 25th James Bond movie has been pushed back until November 12, 2020 in the U.K. and November 25, 2020 in the US.
THR reports that this decision will likely cost the studio between $30 million and $50 million before all is said and done – but the alternative would have been costlier still.
China provides a large cash revenue for Bond films and there are currently 70,000 theaters closed. With no plans to reopen soon, the MGM film could have bled a minimum of 30 percent of its worldwide gross. In other words the film could have possibly lost $300 million dollars on a potential billion dollar gross.
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There is also rampant speculation that other tentpole films may join Bond, including Marvel’s Black Widow and Universal’s Fast 9. Both have a large Chinese audience.
For now, we will simply have to enjoy the trailer:
Here is the official synopsis for James Bond’s No Time to Die:
Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a script co-written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, No Time to Die stars Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Rami Malek, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik and Dali Benssalah.
No Time To Die will be released in theaters on November 25.
SOURCE: Comic Book Movie
